Learn the Fire Hooping Basics

The Lift Up

If you've learned it with the regular hoop, it's easy enough to do on fire. The lift-up is when you are spinning the hoop around your waist, then use your hand to pull it up over your body and lasso it over your head while the hoop is still spinning.
To start off, figure out which hand will bring the hoop up (if you hoop to the right, your left hand will do it. If you hoop to the left, your right hand will). Practice hula hooping with your hand behind your back, palm facing out so that the hoop will hit your hand every certain amount of beats. Count out the beats for every time it touches your hand. To lift the hoop over your head, close your hand around the hoop at a beat, and lift your arm straight into the air, with a slight rotating motion in the direction of the hoop. It's easier to watch videos and see how to do it, then practice.



The Shimmy

The shimmy is when you bring the hula hoop around your neck while it is still spinning. It's slightly trickier and a lot scarier when it is on fire, so practice a lot on a regular hoop first.
Begin by hula hooping at your waist, like usual. To get the hoop up to your neck, you have to bring your arms to your sides, so start off with one arm. Wait until the hoop is at it's widest point, and move your arm down so it is pressed to your side. Practice hooping with that one arm at your side, until you can continue to hoop without it slipping. Then, practice with both your arms, sliding them in when the hoop leaves a gap. To get the hoop up to your neck, shimmy your arms up and down (almost like a penguin), until the hoop starts moving up to your shoulders, then up to your neck.